Strawberries & Biscuits | Personal

It is not entirely uncommon for my mom to come downstairs in the morning and find me standing on a chair–holding my breath, for fear of shaking–and taking pictures of my breakfast. Since I love both food and photography, I can’t help but love a combination of the two! I first started taking pictures of food in high school, and when I studied still life paintings in college art history classes, my love for the art increased. In the past, I’ve hesitated to consider it a serious passion and always tacked on the “wannabe” clarifier. But, I guess I’m just a young photographer who desires to grow and be better than I currently am. And if and when I do become a professional (in whatever field of photography I decide to pursue), I’ll still want to grow and be better than I am at that time!

I love the way Sister Mary Clarence (Whoopi Goldberg) encouraged Rita in Sister Act 2:

“‘If when you wake up in the morning, you can think of nothing but writing, then you’re a writer.’ I’m going to say the same thing to you. If you wake up in the morning, and you can’t think of anything but singing first, then you’re supposed to be a singer, girl.”

I plan to photograph my food all summer… I’ll have plenty time to dirty up dishes, fan-cut strawberries, rewrap sticks of butter, and reheat meals. :)

Here’s a recent session with homemade cinnamon-sugar biscuits:

Photo 2 | Personal

I recently finished my 2nd photo class! I really enjoyed some of these projects… I love that I got to spend more time exploring my own style and making the project fit into it, instead of just fulfilling requirements. I’m finally learning that sometimes you get better results when you don’t follow rules, word for word, in art classes. :) It’s been fun just taking pictures of things that pique my interest and tying them in to projects, even if the association of images is only clear in my mind. I think art is most honest when it creates questions. Even as a viewer, I like looking at people’s work and discerning that there is something intangible in the piece with which only the artist can truly connect.

Anyway, I’ve really enjoyed brainstorming concepts and thinking about deeper meanings for photo 2 projects. I’m definitely more attached to these prints than those of last year, because of the thought that went into the them, and the stories that exist behind them… stories that are revived whenever I look at them. So, these images definitely have more power for me personally, and I hope some of it can be shared universally. Thanks for being interested in my work, and I hope you enjoy!

And here’s a little music to accompany the gallery if you like… I’m a big fan of art+music.

Here are some of my darkroom prints from Project 1 (scanned prints): Illustrative Photographs for “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” by J.D. Salinger

Scans of prints from my favorite project: Self-portraits

Self-directed Project (scanned negatives): Not perfect.
I didn’t bother to figure out the scanning dimensions, so they’re sorta small!

These are more scanned negatives. I didn’t print them for critiques, but I liked them a lot.

Michelle & Stan | Maternity

Maternity sessions are my favorite. So much joy and tenderness and excitement in front of my camera puts me in photographer’s heaven. To add to that, Michelle is the bubbliest, friendliest person you’ll ever meet. I loved capturing her and Stan’s anticipation for their baby girl! So without further ado, let me introduce the happy parents:

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Phoenix & Aspen | Family

These sweet kids are so much fun and full of personality! Aspen provided lots of entertainment with her spontaneous, dramatic facial expressions, and Phoenix busted out some of his James Brown moves and model poses! I’m already convinced they’re going to be rock stars when they grow up. :)

Photo Class | Personal

I just completed my first photography class. It was the best. I loved having an excuse to take pictures all the time and receiving college credit for it!

I learned a lot about who I am as an artist and discovered areas of photography that I didn’t know existed–areas that challenge and frankly, make me uncomfortable… My professor required us to take pictures of random people. This was not within the parameters of “comfort zone.” Approaching people and asking to take their photograph?? Or worse, just taking it without asking?! Both options were unappealing to me. I think my timidity showed in the distance I placed between myself and my unknowing photo subjects (I didn’t have the courage to ask some people). I got through that project and was more than happy to move on to the next. However, my professor encouraged me to push myself out of my comfort zone and get in people’s faces with my camera. I wanted to challenge myself, so I took his advice and carried it into our next project, for which we focused on capturing colors. I still feel awkward and slightly creepy taking pictures of people I don’t know, but… I did it! The photos I took were mostly to force myself out of my shell… different from what I usually do, but definitely beneficial in gaining more confidence behind the camera.

At UT’s Homecoming Parade… check out this guy’s school spirit!

I know, I took the color out of this one… I liked the b&w version best.

And other colorful things…

It gets better…

_____

Project 2: Collage. This was a challenge… not in terms of coming up with ideas, but in terms of implementing them in Photoshop! I’ve always used Photoshop Elements, and I realized it is quite different from the real deal. I downloaded a free trial of CS6 (it expires in 4 days :( ) and fell in love with Curves and Layer Blending Options! I’m satisfied with Lightroom and PSE 10 for now, but someday I plan to buy Photoshop CS6… or whatever version they’re on by the time I have enough money to get it.
I especially enjoyed thinking about the concepts behind these montages.

Beauty is vain…

Version 2:

//Lay me down
Let the only sound
Be the overflow//

I wanted to do something based off of Frida Kahlo’s painting, What the Water Gave to Me, and then I thought of Florence + the Machine’s song, which is also inspired by Kahlo’s painting… The following resulted: